The Well of
Ascension,by Brandon Sanderson, takes
place one year after the events of Mistborn: The Final Empire, when the lands of the Final Empire,no longer under the
thumb of the Immortal Lord ruler, are still in chaos after the end of the
revolution. The mists are behaving strangely, appearing in daylight and
murdering people in the countryside. And the city of Luthadel stands as a
solitary beacon of stability in a world of anarchy and death. Until it is
besieged by three different armies, bent on conquest and destruction...
I won't go into any lengthy description of the story and the characters, as that would certainly include spoilers for the first volume in the series, and since I also covered the setting in my previous review of Mistborn. Just take my word for it when I say that The Well of Ascension is a great fantasy novel. As Logan Sutherland, fellow Sanderson fan said, it does seems to suffer slightly from the infamous second book syndrome, in that it lacks a lot of the aspects which made the first book so brilliant, and pales in comparison to the first book's absolute genius. The story is slightly less appealing, the characters are a teensy bit less interesting (and neurotic, due to a certain plot element I shall not name) , and the antagonists are not as mysterious as they were in The Final Empire. However, Sanderson makes up for this by giving us peeks into the minds and perspectives of some of the more one-dimensional characters in his first book, giving us a chance to sympathize with them, and rounding them out. There are a couple of great twists, a handful of new characters, and the ending is absolutely excellent, leaving the reader eager to jump into the last book in the trilogy, The Hero of Ages. As is the case with any Sanderson title, this book is a wonderful addition to an amazing series.
I won't go into any lengthy description of the story and the characters, as that would certainly include spoilers for the first volume in the series, and since I also covered the setting in my previous review of Mistborn. Just take my word for it when I say that The Well of Ascension is a great fantasy novel. As Logan Sutherland, fellow Sanderson fan said, it does seems to suffer slightly from the infamous second book syndrome, in that it lacks a lot of the aspects which made the first book so brilliant, and pales in comparison to the first book's absolute genius. The story is slightly less appealing, the characters are a teensy bit less interesting (and neurotic, due to a certain plot element I shall not name) , and the antagonists are not as mysterious as they were in The Final Empire. However, Sanderson makes up for this by giving us peeks into the minds and perspectives of some of the more one-dimensional characters in his first book, giving us a chance to sympathize with them, and rounding them out. There are a couple of great twists, a handful of new characters, and the ending is absolutely excellent, leaving the reader eager to jump into the last book in the trilogy, The Hero of Ages. As is the case with any Sanderson title, this book is a wonderful addition to an amazing series.
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